Cuba to launch home Internet service pilot program

Cuba to launch home Internet service pilot program
Source: Xinhua Published: 2016/10/26 10:31:42

Cuba’s state-run telecommunications company ETECSA on Tuesday announced
it will provide a household Internet service pilot program by the end of
the year.

The program will connect about 2,000 users in Havana’s Old Quarter,
where the company has already installed fiber optic equipment acquired
from China’s telecommunications giant Huawei, local media reported.

Residents in the area have been hooked up to the recently installed
telephone and Internet network, ETECSA’s head of marketing and
communications, Eudes Monier, told the Cuban News Agency.

Monier said service rates and connection speeds have yet to be set.

After being approved by the government, only Cuban doctors, journalists
and other key professionals now have Internet service at home.

Cuba says this reflects the island’s limited infrastructure as a result
of US-led sanctions.

The United States and Cuba resumed diplomatic relations in July 2015,
ending more than five decades of enmity. But the United States still
maintains its embargo against Cuba.

“By 2017, ETECSA also plans to offer Internet connection on mobile
devices, a common demand of the Cuban population that is not yet
available,” Monier said.

Cuba currently has just over 1,000 hotspots for Internet access in
parks, recreational areas and sporting venues around the country.

Cubans pay about two US dollars an hour for web access. The amount is
too high for many as the average salary for a state employee is around
24 dollars a month.

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